A pile driver or piling hammer is a mechanical device used to drive piles, pilings or poles into the Earth to provide foundation support for docks, buildings or other structures. A conventional pile driver or piling includes a heavy weight that it is able to freely slide up and down in a single line, wherein the weight is placed above a pile, piling or pole. The weight is raised, and when the weight reaches its highest point, it is released and impacts the pile, piling or pole in order to drive it into the ground.
Various devices have been developed for driving pilings into the Earth, but they have encountered a variety of problems. One known problem with conventional piling hammers or pile drivers is that they generally are not compact integral units. One type of conventional piling hammer comprises a hammer and a separate device that lifts and drops the hammer onto the piling, such as a crane or other lifting device. The use of multiple separate systems in said conventional piling hammers adds to the complexity of the system as a whole, and detracts from its usefulness and mean time to failure. Another known problem with conventional piling hammers is the mean time to failure of the components of the system. Since the act of pile driving inherently involves creating high energy impacts, this leads to quick and heavy wear and tear on the components of the system. This results in reduced mean time to failure and an increase in the costs of owning and maintaining said systems.
Another problem with conventional piling hammers involves the driving of submersion grade pilings. When driving submersion grade pilings for docks and other structures on or near a body of water, the piling hammer is surrounded by high amounts of fresh, brackish or salt water, which can be very corrosive to various components of the system, including metal, integrated circuits and copper coils. This also results in reduced mean time to failure and an increase in the costs of owning and maintaining said systems.
Consequently, a need exists to overcome the problems with the prior art as discussed above, and particularly for improved and innovative pilings hammers.